The upcoming racing game Clutch, developed by a team of ex-Forza Horizon developers, has landed a new publishing deal.
Clutch is an open-world racing game set for release in Spring 2027, and is led by former Forza Horizon creative director Mike Brown.
Originally set to be published by Amazon, Clutch studio Maverick Games and Amazon parted ways earlier this year.
Now, the game has found a new publishing partner in Focus Entertainment. Commenting on the new partnership, Brown said, “We founded Maverick Games to build the open-world racing experience we’d dreamed about for years. Focus shares our creative bar and our ambition for Clutch, and we can’t wait for players everywhere to discover this world.”
Clutch follows the story of a pair of racing siblings – who are competing in a prestigious and historic racing series called the R1K – as well as the Midnight Collective, a group of car enthusiasts who “don’t care about the money and the fame of the R1K” and only care about the love of driving.
In the past year, Amazon has significantly scaled back its games operation, ending most of its MMO projects, including New World, which will shut down next year. It also announced the closure of platformer King of Meat and sold MOBA March of Giants to Ubisoft.
Clutch was officially revealed over the summer, with members of the press being able to play the game during Summer Game Fest.
“I was so impressed by what I saw of Clutch,” reads VGC’s hands-on preview of the racer.
“From the visuals to the racing itself, to the writing and all the accouterments around the edges, Clutch instantly became one of my most anticipated games.
“If Maverick’s racer can maintain the momentum throughout its campaign that it showed off to me in its first hour, then there’s no reason Clutch can’t become the next major racing franchise.”
